SA told to use $11bn jobless fund for virus
JOHANNESBURG – South Africa’s biggest labour organisation and the nation’s main business lobby are pushing the government to find a way to utilise an unemployment fund with assets of about $11 billion to fight the effects of the coronavirus outbreak.
The Congress of South African Trade Unions and Business Unity South Africa, or Busa, told the government at a meeting on Monday that it must find ways to use the Unemployment Insurance Fund to finance temporary layoffs and other methods of supporting companies whose finances have been hit, representatives of both organizations said.
While South Africa has had only 62 confirmed cases of the virus, the number is expected to grow and the government has imposed travel bans, school closures and other restrictions to slow its spread. The rand and stock prices have plunged.
Source: iol.co.za
